Giant ToughRoad SLR 2

2018

Product Details

2018 Giant ToughRoad SLR 2

All-terrain tough.

Fast and smooth on rough, challenging roads. Climb mountains, descend on dirt, do it all on this agile machine.

With its lightweight ALUXX SLR aluminum frame and a smooth-handling composite fork to take the edge off bumpy roads and trails, ToughRoad SLR is made for adventure on unpredictable terrain. Featuring fast and stable 700c wheels and flat-bar rider positioning, it has a ride quality that’s rugged yet agile. The D-Fuse seatpost adds compliance, and the bike is fitted with wide tires to smooth out rough terrain. Powerful disc brakes give you all-weather control, and customized front and rear racks accommodate multiple bags for long trips.

I purchased this after Thanksgiving in 2017. I initially looked for Giant Roam as an all-rounder for my fitness purpose. However, after trying this Toughroad, the comfortable ride immediately swayed me toward this bike. Considering Roam has a front suspension and this one does not, it is amazing!
Several strength points:
-- Relatively thick tires (700X50c) is comfortable and having solid grips on all different kinds of road surface
-- Carbon forks and D-Fuse seatpost add further absorption of bumps and vibrations
-- Drive chain (44/32/22 in front, 11X34 9-speed in rear) is more than sufficient
-- Relatively light for this kind of all terrain bike (about 12.5kg)
-- Flat bar will not lead you seeing a chiropactor
-- Hydraulic brakes works fantastically
Things to improve:
-- Changing gear should be smoother. As a matter of fact, my old Giant Sedona changes gear more smoothly.
-- For competitive fast lane bikers, you may want to have a drop bar for more aggressive riding
-- I changed D-Fuse Seatpost from original aluminum to composite and found it even more comfortable. I wish it came with factory built composite seatpost.
-- I do not mind changing to a narrower tires (eg. 700X38 or 700X32) to exchange for more nimble and faster ride. Mountain riders may oppose, though. I am more leaning to regular road.
Overall, a very capable bike! No problem with rough roads. Not too slow on regular roads. This is a great hybrid all around bike out there that you can buy.

It's lighter than my last hard tail, fast and nimble and looks really nice. The Drive terrain is cheap and noisy, shifts good tho, it came with a very loose cassette!!!. I really like the rigged fork, the rear drop out seems flimsy when a rack is on with minimal weight, very creaky rear end reverberating through the frame. Not sure about how tuff the wheels are. I wouldn,'t go on a fully loaded tour on these light sub standard wheels and hubs. I will be up grading to a better quality mavic rims and Shimano XT hubs and drive terrain for sure!

Overall a very cool bike. Probably one of the best all around do it all bikes. The brakes are excellent.
Big downside for me is that when the chain is on the middle chainring, you get major chainrub on the front derailleur when in either of the smallest three gears on the rear sprocket. Neither Fitchburg or another bike shop (Bike Doctor) could tune it out. Fitchburg stated that it is just the case with triple chainrings. I have ridden other triples that had zero chainrub. The bike mechanic at another shop told me that you should never have chainrub in the middle chainring, but he could not tune it out. Either way, you'll have a loud rattle when using the higher rear gears when in the middle chainring. Consider getting the next model up with the SRAM drivetrain.